Book Banning in Virginia

Fairfax County, Virginia parent Laura Murphy has been trying since 2013 to have the book "Beloved" by Nobel Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winning author Toni Morrison banned from Fairfax County Public School libraries. In 2021, another of Ms. Morrison's books, "The Bluest Eye", is the target of removal from Virginia Beach Public Schools, this time by VB School Board members Victoria Manning and Laura Hughes. "The Bluest Eye" is one of six books they want to see removed from VBPS libraries and high school curriculum, because of their racial and/or sexual content. Parental involvement in curriculum decisions in public schools became a political issue during the recent gubernatorial campaign, with incoming Governor Glenn Youngkin promising to restore the rights of parents to have a say in their child's education. So who gets to decide what children learn, and is banning books the way to achieve the goal? We take a deep dive into the issue with author, former Poet Laureate, and professor emeritus at ODU, Tim Seibles; Ph.D candidate and curriculum and award-winning community program developer, Jimmeka Anderson; and Donna Graham Elliott, Ed.D, retired high school administrator, instructional leader and English teacher in the Virginia Beach School System, who currently serves as an adjunct professor at Tidewater Community College and University Supervisor of English at the College of William and Mary.